Graphene Oxide Modified with Tetramethylethylenediamine Ammonium Salt as a Powerful Catalyst for Production of Trisubstituted Imidazoles

A new and efficient graphene oxide catalyst was synthesized in this study to prepare trisubstituted imidazoles. Graphene oxide was first modified with 2-chloroethanol, and then treated with N,N,N,N-tetramethylethylenediamine. After that, the obtained catalyst was characterized by XRD, FTIR, FESEM, EDAX, and TGA. The reported catalyst was utilized for the synthesis of trisubstituted imidazoles from benzil, aldehydes, and ammonium acetate. Reaction efficiently proceeded via a one-pot multicomponent route under solvent-free conditions. Catalyst offered some advantages over reported ones such as sustainability, cost-effectiveness, ease of handling, storage, and recovery, in addition to non-metal structure. The reported procedure has a series of benefits, including medium conditions, high yields, no by-products, short reaction times, and easy work-up. Reported catalyst can be used in chemistry, material sciences, and related disciplines for diverse applications.